MMO - English fishing vessels sought for trials which may help to reduce discards

English fishing vessels sought for trials which may help to reduce discards

The MMO is looking for English fishing vessels to take part in trials aiming to encourage more selective fishing activity



The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is looking for English fishing vessels working in the North Sea to take part in three trial schemes which may help to reduce discards and encourage more selective fishing behaviour.

Vessels taking part in the trials may be fitted with remote electronic monitoring (REM) equipment or be involved in trying out new gears and may be awarded additional quota in return.

The MMO has run fully documented fisheries (FDF) schemes, sometimes referred to as catch quota trials, since 2011. As part of these schemes remote electronic monitoring (REM) equipment is fitted to vessels to encourage a reduction in discards. In addition, REM has proven to be a useful tool for gathering scientific data. The MMO has collaborated with the Centre for the Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences (Cefas) on exploring this use.

The MMO is looking for English fishing vessels to apply for two fully documented fisheries schemes in 2018:


North-East Nephrops Fully Documented Fisheries
The MMO is also looking for English vessels to take part in the North East Nephrops Net Selectivity trials which is looking to trial new gears which have the potential to be more selective.

North Sea Fully Documented Fisheries
To take part the vessel must be English-registered and a member of a Producer Organisation. In return for taking part in this scheme, vessels will be able to access additional quota for North Sea cod and saithe. In addition scientific quota may be available.

Vessels must apply to take part by 16 April 2018.

The aims of the scheme in 2018 are to:

Test the use of REM as a control and enforcement tool
To monitor compliance with fisheries legislation
Test new developments in REM technologies
Trial the use of inter-species flexibility (ISF)
North-East Nephrops

This is a new scheme for 2018. To take part vessels must be English-registered and work within the North East nephrops fishery. In return for participation in this scheme, vessels will be able to access additional quota for North Sea haddock and whiting. In addition, scientific quota for nephrops may be available.

Vessels must apply to take part by 30 April 2018.

The aims of this scheme are to:

Test the use of REM as a control and enforcement tool within the nephrops fishery
To monitor compliance with fisheries legislation
Test new developments in REM technologies
North-East Nephrops Net Selectivity trials

This is a new scheme for 2018. To take part vessels must be English-registered and work within the North East nephrops fishery. When applying for this scheme vessels are asked to propose how they might improve their gear selectivity and the methods they will use to do this. In return for participation in this scheme, vessels will be able to access additional quota for North Sea haddock and whiting.

Vessels must apply to take part by 30 April 2018.

The aims of this scheme are to:

Trial the use of highly selective gear to reduce discards and catches of below Minimum Conservation Reference Size (MCRS) fish
To document the effects of using highly selective gear in this fishery

For more information on the scheme email ukcatchquota@defra.gov.uk or call 0300 123 1032.

This blog post explains more about how fully documented fisheries work in practice.

The “Smalls” Nephrops Grounds Survey Report

This report provides the main results and findings of the twelfth annual underwater television survey on the ‘Smalls grounds’ ICES assessment area; Functional Unit 22. The survey was multi-disciplinary in nature collecting UWTV, CTD and other ecosystem data. A total of 40 UWTV stations were surveyed successfully (good quality video footage) carried out over an isometric grid at 4.5nmi or 8.3km intervals. 

The prawn (Nephrops norvegicus) are common in the Celtic Sea occurring in geographically distinct sandy/muddy areas where the sediment is suitable for them to construct their burrows (Figure 1). The Nephrops fishery in ICES sub-area 7 is extremely valuable with landings in 2016 worth around € 107 m at first sale. The Celtic Sea area (Functional Units 19-22 see Figure 1) supports a large multi-national targeted Nephrops fishery mainly using otter trawls and yielding landings in the region of ~5,000 t annually over the last decade (ICES, 2017). The 2016 reported landings from the Smalls (~3276 t) were estimated to be worth in the region of €18.2 million at first sale. The Smalls ground is particularly important to the Irish demersal fleet accounting for around 13% of the fishing effort by all demersal vessels >15m between 2006 - 2009 (Gerritsen, et al., 2012). The Irish demersal fleet now account for over 90% of the FU22 Nephrops landings (ICES, 2017). Good scientific information on stock status and exploitation rates are required to inform sustainable management of this resource. 

The 2017 Celtic Sea survey took place on RV Celtic Voyager between the 9th August to 17th August. The survey normally takes place in either July or August each year.